In the Right Light
by Ari Moriarty
Summary: A collaboration/challenge series by Ari Moriarty and Palladion.X. We were each given the same three prompts, and using those prompts we each wrote three totally different one-shots. There are so many different ways of seeing the same thing, and so many different sides of the same story.
1. While the Music Lasts

**Author's Note: **Our first freewrite was written by **Palladion.X**! The prompt we used here was "Someone on the IT subs in for Yu after he leaves, to make sure that Nanako isn't lonely."

**The prompt came from EMD23. Thanks!**

**While the Music Lasts**

Rise hardly ever came to the Dojima household alone. It was either with the whole gang or the few times Yu had invited her over after school. So standing outside the front door alone with a large gift box, just a day after the tearful goodbye at the train station, felt very strange.

_Come on Rise, you've performed on stage in front of thousands of people, now you can't even knock on a door?_

She had promised Yu that she would be there for Nanako-chan, and make sure she wasn't having too much of a hard time. Nanako had the biggest reaction to Yu's leaving yesterday. The large tears that dropped to the station floor and the way she had clung to her big bro's hand right up until the last minute had been almost heartbreaking. So she pushed all her nerves aside and, taking a deep breath, reached up to ring the doorbell.

"Nanako, can you get the door," came a yell from inside, soon followed by a large sigh and heavy footsteps before the door swung open in front of her.

"Oh, Kujikawa. What are you doing here?" Dojima asked.

Rise swallowed the lump in her throat and put on her best Risette smile. "I'm here to see Nanako-chan of course! I brought her a gift to cheer her up. I think she struggled a bit yesterday."

"You can say that again." Dojima glanced over his shoulder to the living room, where the familiar Junes jingle could be heard, however there was nobody singing along this time. "She hasn't said much since then."

A worried expression appeared on Dojima's face. He had more creases in his forehead than usual; he looked tense and was massaging the sides of his head with his fingertips.

"Can I try talking to her? Perhaps she just needs a friend?" Rise suggested.

"Sure, it couldn't hurt I guess," Dojima replied, before returning into the kitchen. "Nanako, you have a visitor."

Rise put the large box, carefully wrapped in pink and purple paper, to one side and calmly took off her shoes, neatly arranging them in front of the door before making her way towards the living room, which was quieter than usual._ She's only seven, so it can't be too bad right? Can seven year olds get depressed?_ She idly thought.

Rise looked over to the table and saw Nanako leaning on it, head resting on one hand, sitting in her usual spot. However, the sparkle in her eyes that she had become accustomed to seeing was gone. Instead, her eyes were puffy and red. Nanako looked very tired, and most of all sad. Not the kind of sadness you might feel when watching an upsetting TV show, or when you realise you have finished all your favourite candy, but a sadness that ran deep into the soul, leaving you exhausted, drained and constantly on edge.

_I guess they can, she has always been mature for her age though. Perhaps we should have seen this coming._

"Um, hi Nanako-chan. How are you feeling?" She asked, kneeling down to sit next to her at the table.

"m'okay," came the stilted reply.

_This is worse than I thought; our usual happy, cheerful Nanako has gone!_

"I brought you a gift. Do you want to open it?" Rise dragged the box towards the table and smiled at Nanako.

Nanako kept staring at the TV screen however, her face blank.

"Oh, well I'll open it for you then, stay right there." Rise stood up and ripped the paper down one side and quickly tugged the rest off revealing a brand new, Junes brand, Karaoke machine. "See, I know you like to sing. I used to love hearing you sing the Junes theme song whenever I came to visit, or every time you hung out with us in the food court." Rise looked over to Nanako, to see her staring at the box, eyes widened at the extravagant gift. Rise smiled slightly. "I thought maybe we could sing together, it has a duet setting on it. Then when Yu-senpai comes back we can put on a show at his welcome back party. Does that sound like a good idea?"

Nanako looked up at Rise and saw the bright smile upon the former idol's face. She turned back towards the box and remembered singing for her big bro not long after he had first arrived last year. He had joined in afterwards and they laughed and sang together for what felt like a very long time.

"I get to sing with Rise-chan?" Nanako asked quietly, a small smile forming on her face.

"Yep, it'll be an exclusive Inaba performance!" Rise had started walking round the living room, arms gesturing all over the place, before she returned to the table and crouched back down on her knees. Taking Nanako's hands in her own and squeezing them slightly, she said, "we can get Kanji-kun to create costumes for us, and we can get Teddie and Yosuke-senpai to be our back up dancers. It'll be so much fun! Don't you think?"

Nanako wasn't so sure Yosuke would be willing to dance in front of everyone, in what would be probably a very embarrassing dance routine if Rise had anything to do with it. However she couldn't help but laugh a little at the image of him and Teddie bumbling around behind them while she and Rise sang.

"Yeah, let's start practicing right away!" Nanako leapt up and immediately started unpacking the machine, humming to herself at the same time.

Dojima had watched the entire scene from the kitchen, holding his cup of coffee still in one hand. Rise turned to look at him while Nanako was still trying to open the large box, and received a grateful smile in return.


	2. I Ain't Missing You At All

**Author's Note: **Okay, here we go! This story is by Ari Moriarty, and was written based on the very same prompt from **EMD23, **which reads; "**A member of the IT subs in for Yu after he leaves to make sure Nanako isn't lonely."**

**I Ain't Missing You At All**

That morning, Nanako woke up, yawned, stretched, and swung her legs over the end of the bed, ready for breakfast and a day all to herself.

_I'll bring the laundry in right now, _she thought, rummaging through the bottom drawer for a clean pair of socks. _Then, after the laundry's done, I can watch my cartoons! Oh, but I don't want to wake Dad up…_

Something was needling at the back of Nanako's mind, making her uneasy. She'd been upset about something last night, hadn't she? She'd slept okay, but all night she'd been troubled by something or other, and now she couldn't remember what it was. It was hard to be happy when she just knew that there was something she was forgetting to be unhappy about.

_I can go to Junes today, too, _she thought, throwing the covers back over the bed and heading for the stairwell. _Yosuke said that there's going to be a sale on pickled radishes today! I'll go and get the pickled radish, and then Big Bro and I can make dinner tonight, and-!_

The penny dropped. Nanako's mouth fell open.

_Big Bro…oh…_

Tears welled up in Nanako's eyes. She sat down hard on the top step, and began to cry.

"Hey, what's this?" Dad came hurrying up the stairs, looking worried and confused. "What's wrong, Nanako?"

"B-Big Bro's gone," blubbered Nanako miserably. "I-I'm sorry. I know I said that I wasn't going to cry, b-but…um…I…"

She dissolved into sobs again, and Dad shook his head, then sat down beside her and gently drew her back against him. She lay in his arms and bawled, and he rocked her back and forth, sighing softly to himself.

"I-I'm sorry," repeated Nanako. "I just-!"

"You promised you'd be brave, remember?" Despite his words, Dojima's voice was gentle. "Yu wouldn't be happy if he knew that you were up here crying. We have to be happy for him now okay? He's going back to his old school, with his old friends. He's going to see his Mom and Dad again. That'll be nice for him. We should be pleased about how happy he's going to be."

Nanako nodded, and scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Y-yeah," she agreed, doing her best to put on a happy face. "I know. You're right, Dad…"

_But, _cried a little voice in the very back of Nanako's mind, _what about me? _

"Hey," began Dad, "come on, no more tears. You want to come out shopping with me? I'll just go and-!"

As if on cue, his cell phone suddenly began to ring. Nanako watched resignedly as Dad looked at her, looked at the cell phone, muttered something under his breath and then picked up the phone.

"Hello? Dojima speaking. Look, I'm a little busy right now-!" He glowered into empty space for a moment, listening to the voice on the other end. "Uh huh. Yeah. Wait, seriously? You've gotta be-! Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll be there right away."

"You have to go, right?" asked Nanako, as Dad put the phone away again.

Dad rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck. "Yeah. Uh, sorry. Look, we'll do something when I get home, all right? Just the two of us. I promise."

Nanako nodded, smiled, and watched him go downstairs again. She sat on the steps until she heard the door open, and knew that Dad had gone off to work.

"I can't cry anymore," she told herself. "I'm supposed to be happy. Everyone wants me to be happy, so…"

Unfortunately, that didn't make her feel any better.

Unexpectedly, there was knock at the door. Nanako, still in her pajamas, rushed downstairs and threw the door open.

"Dad?" she began. "Did you forget your key-? Oh!"

It wasn't Dad waiting outside the door. Instead, Yosuke Hanamura was standing outside, dressed up in his Junes apron and holding a shopping bag in one hand.

"Oh, hey Nanako-chan," he said. "Um, is your Dad home?"

Nanako shook her head. "He had to work. Do you need him? I can call him on the phone if you want."

Yosuke shook his head. "Nah, no need. I didn't come to see him anyway. Uh…"

Yosuke looked uncomfortable. Nanako blinked up at him, wondering what he was so nervous about. Then she suddenly remembered her manners, and scooted back out of the doorway.

"Oh! Um. Do you want to come in?" she asked.

Yosuke nodded. "Sure, cool. Thanks, Nanako-chan. Is it okay if I put my stuff here?"

He dumped his shopping bag down on the table. Nanako peered at it curiously.

"What's in the bag?" she asked. "Is it from Junes? Oh, you're still wearing your apron…"

"Yeah." Yosuke nodded. "I have to go back to work soon. I've got the early shift, today. My break just started."

"But…why did you come here?" Nanako realized that question hadn't sounded as polite as it should have, and winced." No, I mean, I like you being here, but, um…was there something you wanted?"

_Maybe, _she thought, _maybe he forgot that Big Bro went home, too…he came to see Big Bro, but Big Bro isn't here. I wonder if I should tell him. _

"Well, uh, actually," Yosuke was saying, "I came to see you, sort of. Well, to give you something, anyway. Here."

Reaching into the bag, Yosuke pulled out a bolt of rolled-up orange fabric. He unfurled it, revealing a Junes apron just like the one he was wearing. Unlike his however, this other apron was covered with green and brown spots, which looked like they must be old caked food stains that no one had ever bothered to wash off.

"It's Yu's old Junes apron," Yosuke explained. "You know, from those times when he helped me out at the store. He turned it back in yesterday before he left, but I figured maybe you'd want it. Um, you know, because you're kind of a fan of Junes, and I thought that-!"

"Thank you!" Nanako snatched the apron out of Yosuke's hands, held it up, gazed at it, and then beamed up at Yosuke. "I love it! Um…is it okay to keep it?"

Yosuke nodded. "Sure, why not? We're getting new ones in a couple of months, anyway. The logo's changing, or something. Anyway, this one's all yours."

Eagerly, Nanako slipped her head through the loop and hugged the apron to her body. It smelled just a little bit, but she didn't really mind. It was also very, very long, and it trailed on the floor in front of her as she fumbled with the ties in the back.

"You sure you don't want to wash it, first?" asked Yosuke. "Uh, actually, maybe I should have done that before I brought it over. I guess I got excited. Sorry. You want me to take it back with me and do that tonight?"

Nanako placed her hands protectively across her chest." No, that's okay! I'll wash it! I can wash it today!"

Yosuke grinned. "Hey, don't freak out, I'm gonna take it if you don't want me to. Here, let me help you tie it."

He came around behind Nanako and started tying up the back of the apron.

"It's hard to tie things in the back," remarked Nanako.

"Don't worry," Yosuke assured her. "Nobody's good at doing that. At work, we all tie each other's aprons. You're fine."

He finished tying the strings, stood up, and took a few steps back to look at her.

"Uh…okay, so it's a little big," he admitted. "Still, you'll grow into it, right? You're gonna look just like him when you do, too. I mean, you've even got the same kind of face. It's pretty easy to see that you guys are family, now that I think about it."

Nanako's heart swelled. "I look like him? You really think so?" She imagined herself tall and majestic, a high-school girl in a beautiful, sparkling orange apron, looking out at the world through her cousin's wise old eyes.

"Yeah, you really do." Yosuke smiled. "I wonder what his Dad looks like. You guys are from his Mom's side of the family, right?"

"Uh huh." Nanako nodded. Then she hesitated, frowned, and bit her lip. "Yosuke, um…can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Sure." Yosuke looked a little apprehensive. "What's up?"

Nanako thought for a moment about how she wanted to word the question. "Do you miss Big Bro, too?" she asked.

"Of course, yeah," agreed Yosuke. "Hey, we all do. Chie, and Yukiko, and Kanji, and even-!"

"So…it's okay to miss him, then?" Nanako looked directly into Yosuke's eyes. "Do you think it would make him said if he knew that we missed him? Because, my Dad says that-!"

Yosuke shook his head. "It's fine," he assured her. "It's always okay to miss somebody. I bet Yu would be super happy if he knew you loved him so much that you even kept his smelly old apron."

"But…Yosuke," Nanako pointed out. "You kept the apron, not me."

"Uh…r-right." Yosuke gave her a sheepish little grin. "You win, Nanako-chan. Like I said, I miss him too."


End file.
